Monday, November 05, 2007

Ralph Mellanby has been touring around quite a bit the past month or so in promotion of a new book, Walking With Legends, which recounts his time as the long-time producer of Hockey Night in Canada. I've heard him now on a half dozen shows, and it's always engaging stuff. He's incredibly candid, more so than we generally get nowadays from commentators and critics.

You also get the feeling that you're listening to someone who's seen just about everything in hockey.

Mellanby was on The Hour earlier tonight and had some more tidbits that might be of interest to those who may not have caught the show. His thoughts on Gary Bettman, in particular, are quite damning: "I think he's a disgrace."

I think I'm going to have to get my hands on the book.

Former NHLer Scott Mellanby, Ralph's son, has been carrying on the HNIC tradition this season as an analyst.

Scott Mellanby on HNIC is a real treat, his utter disgust with PJ last week was classic. His insight as a leader gives outstanding insight, I look for him behind the bench somewhere real soon if he's interested.

Scott's great, but does he know there's more than just one meaning for "rim job?" I'd leave that one at home if I were him. I still prefer satelite hot stove though, I'm sure they could find something else for PJ and Scott.

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About Me

James has covered the NHL and the game of hockey since 2004, beginning with this website and continuing with The Globe and Mail (2008-16) and The Athletic. He is a member of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association, a long-time radio analyst with TSN and was the NHL network manager at SB Nation from 2008 to 2010. A graduate of Thompson Rivers and Ryerson universities, James grew up in Kamloops, B.C. as a season ticket holder in the Blazers' glory years.

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